


The Coming Darkness

by Andalus23



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-23 19:38:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14339550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andalus23/pseuds/Andalus23
Summary: After a traumatic mission, Gine realizes she is not cut out for the warrior's life. So she retires early from the military to try and start a family and live a peaceful life. Though, this decision does not come without consequences. The universe is a terrible place, and Gine will soon find out just how dark it can be.





	1. Chapter 1

Dragonball: The Coming Darkness.

 

Chapter 1:

**_Aftermath of a Conquest. The Dreadful Saiyan Warriors!_ **

**__ **

The sun rose over a battered city landscape as plumes of thick black smoke gently floated into the morning sky. What once appeared to be a great city was now nothing more than a pile of rubble and ash. In the streets, the victims of a senseless genocide lay slain, their blood painted the concrete a dark blue colour.

The murdered creatures appeared avian in nature, with large tan beaks and purple like quills that protruded from their skulls. They were ugly things, a complete contrast to their beautiful and resource rich planet. Which, by some cruel twist of fate, was the reason for their demise. Their race had been marked for destruction by the infamous Intergalactic Planet Trade Organization lead by the cruel and cunning Lord Frieza, and their planet was to be sold to the highest bidder. A very profitable endeavor, with grim consequences for those who stood in the way.

Despite their small and weak stature, the race of avian like creatures proved to be quite a nuisance to The Freiza Force due to their impressive technological capabilities. Awarding themselves the honor of being destroyed by a team of adult saiyan warriors.

The Saiyan race, a humanoid species known across the universe for their barbaric and brutal warrior ways. They were feared across the cosmos as beasts of death, bringing ruin to whatever planet they appeared on that happened to have intelligent life, and valuable resources. Currently under the employment of Galactic Emperor Lord Frieza, their genocidal capabilities were being used in full effect.

In one of the craters that marred the surface of the alien world, laughter reminiscent of a merry gathering could be heard despite their surroundings. A group of six Saiyan warriors that had just finished exterminating the population of bird-people sat together and reveled in their quick conquest.

"I'd say this was our most successful mission yet!" exclaimed Tora, a tall muscular Saiyan.

"Yeah, we cleared this dump out in only five days, I have no idea why the PTO had so much trouble with these chums," agreed Shugesh, a short plump male Saiyan with a thin goatee.

"Not quick enough for my liking," said Bardock, a scarred saiyan with hair reminiscent of a palm tree. The leader of the group of Saiyans.

"Whaddya' mean Captain? The full moon didn't appear until last night! There was no way we could have purged the planet quickly enough without it," Shugesh justified.

"Yeah Doc, this planet is too big and there were too many of those guys to clear the planet any quicker," spoke Selipa, the one of only two saiyan females on the team.

"A team of elites would have had this place cleared in less than two days, and without the full moon," Bardock retorted. He continued, "You guys 're gonna' have to stop being slouches on missions if we're ever gonna' be recognized as more than just low class scum. These guys were pathetically weak, it was an insult that they even sent in a team of adult fighters to clear this place out! A bigger insult that they sent _us_ to do it!"

"What's got your tail in a twist Captain? So what if they sent us? It was probably just command letting us have some fun once in a while," Tora said.

"No, it was command telling us that they don't respect us. They think we're weak so they give us the easy jobs that they give to kids, and it took us _five_ days to do it! This was a pathetic display from all of you," Bardock scorned.

Bardock cared for his team a great deal, they had followed him through hell and back. He would never ask for a better group of warriors to stand beside him in battle. But it was because of this that he had to be so hard on them. Bardock wanted his team and himself to be recognized as true saiyan warriors and hopefully be the only Saiyans to ever be promoted from low class to elite.

Bardock and his squad had been developing a reputation as being swift conquers and were surely becoming the most effective low class team the Saiyan army had. However, on the past few missions their effectiveness was steadily declining, Bardock's squad members had been showing signs of arrogance, thinking they were invincible. Resulting in them taking far too long to clear their missions and making too many rookie mistakes on the battlefield. Bardock realized he really needed to crack the whip or else they'll all end up dead on some backwater world.

Tora stood up and made his way over to where Bardock was standing. "Ah c'mon Doc' look on the bright side," Tora put an arm around Bardock's shoulder. "At least you got to save Gine's ass again, I'm sure she'll be all over you once we get back to Vegeta," Tora teased with a sly grin. Earning a hostile growl from his leader.

"Sh-shut up Tora!" a flustered Gine shouted.

"Bardock's right guys," spoke the usually quiet Borgos. "We've been too cocky lately, and if we all don't start pulling our weight around we'll never make it to the elites. Some of us more than others." Borgos turned towards Gine, "You have to toughen up kid, we would have been done much quicker if we didn't have to routinely save you or spend hours trying to convince you to fight at all."

"What? Don't shift the blame to me, we're all at fault, tell him Bardock!" Gine said.

Bardock didn't say a word, he couldn’t bring himself to say something that might hurt Gine’s feelings. He only could give her a blank stare. It was strange, he used to never care about what she felt, or about what anyone felt. However, that was before he’d developed feelings of his own for her, though he’d never admit it. Bardock and Gine have had an irregular relationship for saiyan standards for over a year now. Gine’s softness was starting to rub off on him.

"Bardock?" she called again, her voice a little hurt.

Bardock looked away. He knew Borgos was right, Gine was just holding them back. He wouldn’t say it himself though.

"Finally, someone said it, was afraid if I said anything Captain was gonna blow his top or something," said Shugesh.

It was Selipa's turn to speak, "Yeah Gine, listen, we like you, you're just a terrible fighter."

All Gine could do was frown and look to her boots.

"Ah now don't make that face, if it makes ya’ feel better I could give ya’ some special training if Doc's willing to share," Tora teased.

Bardock became red in the face, "I swear Tora if you don't shut your mouth-"

"Don't worry Doc’ I'm only teasing you know that."

Bardock let out a long sigh, "Whatever, let's just get back to the pods and get off this dump." He stood up and made his way out of the crater they were currently sitting in. Bardock looked out at the destruction before him. The once impressively tall buildings were broken down to piles of rocks and metal scraps, huge craters were scattered among the skeletal remains of the city and the whatever remained of inhabitant’s bodies were gruesomely sprawled across the streets. It was a sight he has gotten used to over the years. The great ape transformation tended to be a lot more destructive. The uncontrollable power was always a lot less graceful in their purging methods, and it almost always left nothing behind.

Gine climbed out of the crater and stood beside him. Bardock noticed the disgusted expression her face had as she looked over the destruction. She was always too soft.

“Wow, we really wrecked this place, didn’t we?” she said in a somber tone.

 “Who cares? What did they expect when they decided to send in saiyans so close to the full moon?”

“You think this will hurt the sale value?” she asked him.

“Tch, whatever,” Bardock dismissed.

 “Still, don’t you think we should have been…cleaner?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…I mean…we didn’t have to kill _all_ of them.”

Bardock sighed, “Please don’t start with this again,”

“Just hear me out on this, if we don’t kill everyone that means whoever buys the planet can have some servants, it would increase the sale value! A-and their-“

“Look, Gine,” he cut in, “We’re sent to these planets to kill, that’s what we do. I don’t know if some fat alien is gonna’ be pissed he doesn’t get slaves to wipe his ass and to be honest, I don’t care. What I do know is that we are paid to make sure these planets are under Frieza’s control, and what better way to make sure of that then to leave no one left alive to oppose him. It’s the way the universe works, the strong live and the weak die.” Bardock was always straight to the point, he never flowered his words. What was the point? He didn’t care.

“I-I guess you’re right,” she said timidly. “Speaking of Freiza, don’t you think it’s weird that these guys turned his forces back three times?”

This was something that had been looming in the back of Bardock’s mind the entire mission. Why exactly did the Frieza Force have so much trouble with this place? The people of this planet repelled three invasions, and each time the Frieza Force suffered heavy casualties when they left. He remembered the mission report stating the technological capabilities of these creatures were extraordinary. Though when he got here it wasn’t really all that impressive. Sure, there were some close calls. He remembered multiple occasions where he or his team had to dodge missile attacks that would have blown them to bits or super powered blasts from their energy cannons. But it was entirely manageable. The highest power level of the creatures barely passed one-hundred. Even if Freiza’s regular soldiers were incompetent when it came to conquering worlds, they still could hold their own. Something wasn’t right, there had to be another reason why this planet was so difficult to conquer.

Just then, his scouter beeped to life.

Bardock tensed, not at the fact that there was still someone left, it wasn’t uncommon that as soon as the transformation happened the victims would take advantage of the mindlessness the saiyans experienced while transformed, and hide in some deep cavern. But it was because whoever was still out there, they were strong.

"Everyone up, we've got company!" Bardock commanded.

In an instant, the group of fearsome warriors were up and alert, ready for the oncoming threat. They each climbed out of the crater and stood beside their leader.

"Shit! I thought we got all of them," cursed Shugesh.

Selipa looked to her scouter, "There's only one, power level two-thousand!"

"What?! Two-thousand?! There's no way that can be right, the max power level we got here was barely above one-hundred!" Shugesh argued while fumbling with his own scouter.

"No, it's right. Prepare yourselves, this is gonna' be a tough one!" warned Bardock.

Bardock looked towards Gine, he could see the fear written on her face. They didn’t usually go up against beings this strong.

A lone figure touched down some distance away from where Bardock was standing. It was tall, well built, and was clothed in a long, brown robe completely different from the kind seen on the planet. It also carried with it a long, black, metal bo-staff. A hood cloaked the newcomer's face, making it impossible to determine what race this warrior was from.

"You saiyans will pay for your evil deeds!" called out a deep, masculine voice.

Bardock spoke up, "Listen, I'm not trying to stay on this dump any longer than I have to, so let's get this going already."

"Hmph, took the words right out of my-"

Before he could finish, Bardock was already on him, he blasted off towards the lone warrior and proceeded to assault him with a series of fast strikes, putting all his power behind every punch. The Lone Warrior ducked and weaved between all Bardock's attacks with ease. Then, with a speed faster than any of them could comprehend, gave the scarred Saiyan a hard blow to his abdomen sending him flying backwards and into the side of a building.

 _“Not bad,”_ Bardock thought. This guy was certainly way stronger than anyone he fought here. But he wasn’t yet convinced the warrior was the reason for three failed invasions.

"D-did you guys see that?" Gine stuttered.

"Sure did, it's a wonder Captain still has any energy left since the transformation," Shugesh commented

"Not that! Turn your scouter on, that guy's power level keeps jumping all over the place," said Gine.

Bardock was back up and ready for another go. He shot forward once more. He fired off a few ki blasts at the hooded fighter who crossed his arms in front of him to block the incoming attacks. As the blasts hit they created a plume of smoke around the warrior, blocking his field of vision.

This was Bardock's chance. Using his scouter to lock down the Warrior's position, he phased in and out to above the warrior and with all the power he could muster, sent down a crushing axe handle. But before his attack could connect the hooded Warrior disappeared.

The Warrior reappeared behind Bardock and slammed his staff into the Saiyan’s head knocking him to the hard ground once more.

 _"How the hell did he know I was behind him? I don't see a scouter with him,"_ The scarred Saiyan thought with his face in the dirt. He quickly jumped to his feet and leapt back a few yards to put some distance between them.

"This fight is over. You are finished," stated the Warrior as he raised his hand out in front of him and gathered energy into his palm. He fired off the blast towards the saiyan. Bardock then launched his own blast, intercepting the oncoming attack in midair creating a large explosion, kicking up dust and dirt into the air, blocking visibility between the two. Bardock waited for the smoke to clear before making his next move, keeping his guard up incase his opponent decided to try anything.

When the smoke cleared however, the lone warrior was gone. Bardock tensed. He scanned the area with his scouter. He wasn’t showing up anywhere.

“You rely too much on that primitive device!”

Bardock’s scouter buzzed, he was behind him! But he couldn’t react fast enough, the Warrior’s fist connected with the saiyan’s jaw and he flew back, skidding to a halt on the ground.

"Alright guys this is our cue," said Tora. He flew forward and with all his strength, threw a left hook at the warrior’s face, but connected with his forearm as the warrior had lifted it to block. Tora sent another punch, blocked again, this time from the warrior’s staff. Tora kept at it, swinging and kicking while the warrior blocked and dodged every hit. Selipa then joined the fray, sending her own hits towards the warrior.

It was a two on one, a seemingly one sided fight in favour of the saiyans, but the warrior deflected everything coming his way like it was nothing. The warrior extended his arms out and using his ki, sent out a shockwave that hurled the saiyans away from him.

Gine looked to her scouter, “Power level three thousand?” She thought out loud. Anxiety started to well up inside her, it was clear that they were in some trouble. This guy was strong and everyone was still worn out from the great ape transformation the night before.

Tora and Selipa were back up and then flew forward towards the warrior. The lone fighter readied himself and bent down into a stance with one hand forward and his staff in the other, tucked underneath his arm.

As the Saiyans approached, they shot a glance to each other and before they reached him, arced out and away from him at the last second. Then, before the warrior could react, Bardock’s fist slammed into the back of his head and was sent flying forwards, head first. Using his momentum, the warrior twirled and instead landed steady on his feet some distance away from Bardock.

Tora and Selipa landed next to Bardock followed by his other squad members.

"It's just like you to be rushing off into battle like that Doc, you're lucky I had your ass covered." Tora told him

"I had it under control."

"Yeah sure."

Tora turned towards the cloaked fighter. "Alright so it seems you're pretty good if your able to take us on, but remember, we ain’t at full power."

"Not that it would matter, I will defeat all of you whether you had your full strength or not." The Warrior replied.

"You're a pretty cocky guy, aren't ya?" Tora remarked. "There's no way you're one of these birds, you're way too strong."

"You are correct, I am not from this planet. My order sent me here to defend these people."

"Heh, yeah you did a real good job making sure these guys stayed alive," Tora mocked while gesturing to the dead bird-creatures.

"I was off-world, it was my mistake to believe these people were safe for a little while."

The combatants stared each other down for a moment before Tora spoke again.

"You got a name? And take off that hood, I like to see the faces of my enemies before I crush em'."

"Very well," the lone warrior pulled back his hood to reveal a light blue, scaled face, with long pointy ears, and a long fin that ran across the top of his head. "I am called Trout."

“Ugh, ugly thing, aren’t you?” Shugesh mocked.

“And you lot are an insult to your race.”

Tora chuckled, “Okay then fish face,”

“Trout,”

“ _Fish face_ ,” Tora corrected. “You wanna’ keep this banter up or are we gonna’ fight?”

“By all means.” Trout bent back down into a fighting stance, "Let us continue."

Trout was the first to move. He shot forward and launched a few ki blasts in the middle of the group. Each of the saiyans leaped out of the way in multiple directions to avoid the blasts. He landed in between the saiyans, having now been separated into two groups, and swung his staff towards the direction of one group, creating a fierce wind that blew them back. Then, he leaped towards the other group and swung his staff at each, knocking each of them away.

Bardock cursed. This guy was really starting to piss him off. He launched towards Trout and began trading blows with him. The other saiyans, save Gine, also joined the fight. They each took turns rushing forward and being knocked away effortlessly.

* * *

 

Gine watched with a stunned look as her comrades were slowly being beat down by this seemingly untouchable foe. She felt useless just standing in the sidelines, she ahd to think off a way to help. But how? This guy was way out of her league. Gine wasn’t dumb, she knew how to pick her battles. However, Gine could not watch her friends be pummeled any longer. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind.

Gine scanned the area looking for her solution. Looking towards the fallen bodies of the avian creatures. Then she saw a small metallic glint peering out from under a dead soldier. _There!_ She sprinted over to the fallen bird-soldier and lifted him off the metallic object. Letting out a silent cheer as she found the device intact. She picked up a cylindrical metallic device with one handle connected to a trigger, and another to be used as a grip. There was a red glass piece on the top of the device that functioned as a sight for aiming. She carried it in both hands and placed one end under her arm. She’d seen the soldiers use these super powered blasters during the conquest, and they were _very_ dangerous to the saiyans. Mostly since their scouters couldn’t pick up the energy these weapons shot off.

This Trout guy appeared to be able to know when their attacks were coming without the aid of a scouter somehow. But he won’t be able to see this one coming. She held the red glass sight up to her right eye. Now, if she could only get him distracted for a moment…

* * *

 

Bardock hurled to the ground having been blindsided by Trout’s staff, again. He rose to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth. He watched as the others desperately tried to land a single hit on the guy with no luck. _“Damn, this guy is good!”_ He thought. Any other time he would been thrilled to have such a challenge, but right now he was tired and worn out from the great ape transformation, and was sick of looking at the blue sky of this world. He wanted to go back to Vegeta and relax for a few days, but _this jackass_ just had to be in the way!

In the corner of his eye Bardock caught Gine lifting one of those blasters the soldiers of this planet used. He instantly caught on to her idea. If those things could hurt them, they’ll wreak havoc on this guy. He needed to distract Trout somehow so Gine could make her shot.

He quickly flew up to level himself with Trout as he knocked Borgos down with his fist.

“Alright Trout, let’s see you block this one!” Bardock called out. He pulled one hand back gathered as much energy as he could muster into head. His hand started to glow a whiteish-blue. The other saiyans reeled back, not wanting to get in the way of this attack.

Trout readied himself for Bardock’s blast, focusing entirely on him.

“ _Perfect!”_ Bardock thought.

“Now to end this!” He roared and launched to the attack forward. The attack barreled towards trout at great speeds. Trout readied a hand to deflect, only to watch in bewilderment as the attack arced upwards suddenly just as it was about to strike him, and exploded high in the sky, painting the scene a brilliant bright blue.

Trout looked towards Bardock, “You missed.”

“No I didn’t.”

“It seems your feeble mind doesn’t under-RAAGH.”

Trout cried out in agony as he felt a sudden sharp pain in his chest. He looked down to see that a small hole had pierced the right side of his chest. “They got me,” Trout rasped as he dropped out of the air, hitting the ground with a hard ‘ _thud_ ’.

Bardock waved towards Gine. “Nice shot kid,”

She saluted back, “Thanks for distracting him.”

Bardock landed down to where Trout was now on his hands and knees, violently coughing up blood.

“It seems you weren’t paying attention,” Bardock mocked.

“ _Damn all of you!”_ Trout spat.

“Alright fish brains, you’re finished, we won. Now stay still and die like the people you failed to protect.”

The other saiyans landed around where Bardock and Trout where. “Tora,” Bardock said, “I’m all out of energy, you finish this guy off for me, cool?”

“Sure, thing Captain,” Tora raised a hand out in front of him. “Well you were a good fight, but like all the other heroes that tried to stop us, you die.”

“Not now! Not by you beasts!” Trout reached into his pocket and then slammed his hand into the ground, creating a thick plume of smoke.

Tora shot a blast into the cloud of smoke, only to have it pass right through and fly into some nearby buildings.

The smoke cleared, and Trout was nowhere to be seen.

“Shit,” Shugesh cursed, “Where’d the bastard run off to this time?”

“Check your scouters, he’s injured, he couldn’t have gone far!” Bardock commanded. They scanned for a while, but Trout could not be found. Hey each waited a while longer, waiting to see if Trout had any more attacks up his sleeve. When nothing happened, they all relaxed.

Bardock sighed as he sat down on a large rock.

“You still think kids could have handled this one Doc?” Selipa asked.

“Nah probably not. I can now see why they had so much trouble with this damn place. But it still doesn’t erase the fact it took us five days to kill those birds!” Bardock scorned.

“Haha, lighten up Captain, will ya?” Tora said while giving Bardock a light slap on the back. He jerked forward, clearly having been worn out from the fight.

The sun was beaming down upon them, it was well into the morning now. A gentle breeze rolled through the destroyed city, running through the trees left standing, swaying their leaves. It was quiet, the only sounds being from the soft winds and the smoldering remains of the building. The smell of death hung heavy in the air.

“Hey, you guys about ready to get off this dump?” Bardock asked.

“Yeah,” spoke Shugesh, “This place is dead anyway.”

Gine spewed blood from her mouth as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach.

“GINE!” someone called, she didn’t know, her mind was fuzzy.

Looking down she saw one end of Trout’s staff protruding from her abdomen, slicked red with her own blood.

“Oh,”


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_**The Battle Continues! The Power of a Raged Saiyan!** _

Gine spat out another mouthful of blood as she fell to her knees. Trout's staff still impaling her through her abdomen,

"Eye for an eye…good thing…you were such an easy target," Trout said, breathing heavily.

"GINE!" Bardock called out again.

Trout dislodged his weapon from Gine as she fell forward onto her face, unconscious from blood loss. Using his staff as a balance, Trout turned to face the others, one bloody hand covering his chest wound. "Come saiyans, come die like this one here," he taunted. Looking to the side he was just able to catch Tora sprinting towards him. Tora threw a punch, and Trout dodged, striking the back of the tall saiyan's head with the side of his hand. Tora fell to the ground, unmoving.

Coming up behind, Borgos cupped both hands together and brought them down on the seemingly unsuspecting Trout, only to strike air as Trout disappeared once more. Borgos was then sent reeling sideways as Trout's black metal staff struck him upside the head.

Bardock clenched is teeth. 'This, BASTARD!' he screamed internally. The rage was starting to build up inside him, his veins were flooding with adrenaline. His power rose steadily, fast approaching it's limit as the ground around him started to crack and quake.

Shugesh and Selipa rushed in behind one another, Trout kicked one away, twirled and struck the other with his shin. Both were sent flying backwards. "All too easy," Trout said to himself. He tensed, bringing a hand to his still bleeding chest wound. Wheezing, he fell to one knee, his injuries were starting to take a heavy toll on him. Trout knew that he could no longer fight efficiently in his current condition, this battle needed to end right away.

He then heard a ferocious yell, looking to one side he saw the last Saiyan left standing, the palm haired one. He could practically feel the seething rage that radiated off the scarred warrior. Trout stuck his staff into the ground and braced himself, ready for the eventual explosive attack.

Bardock let out one more battle cry and launched forward, the ground beneath him shattered as he blasted off. He readied his hand behind him for one powerful punch.

Trout cried out too, as he launched himself forward. Mirroring Bardock's movements as he readied his own punch. Time seemed to slow as the warriors approached each other. A large trail of dust following each of the warriors as they flew towards each other. Then, their fists connected, creating an explosive shockwave that tore up the ground and blew away everything around them. The other Saiyan's, save Gine, having recuperated, were blown off their feet. The dust cleared, but the ground still shook as the two warriors traded blows.

Bardock dodged and struck, a raging fire was shining in his eyes. Every hit the Saiyan received seemed to not register as he was blinded in his rage. Trout noticed. 'I can't keep this up much longer, damn saiyan!' the mysterious warrior thought. Trout was breathing more heavily now, his strikes were getting sloppier, and had less power too them.

"YOU'RE STARTING TO SLIP, FISH BRAINS!" Bardock roared as he continued his relentless barrage of punches and kicks while his opponent desperately blocked and dodged, not having a chance to counter. This continued for a short while until finally, the palm haired saiyan broke through the mysterious warrior's guard. Now finding an opening, Bardock drew back his arm and threw his fist forward with all his raged filled power behind it, striking Trout in his stomach. Trout immediately was sent rocketing high into the sky at blinding speeds, dissipating the clouds he passed through, until he could no longer be seen.

Bardock was breathing heavily, his rage still flowing through his veins. He stood still for some time, hands clenched tightly at his sides and teeth barred. He turned to his gaze towards his injured comrades, his anger cooling off. He rushed towards the most injured one, Gine, who was lying unconscious in a pool of her own blood. He checked her pulse and breathed a small sigh of relief

"Good still alive," he said. He looked towards his other squad members, seeing they were mostly okay, at most some broken bones but nothing serious. He picked Gine up bridal style, her body fell limp in his arms.

"Everybody to your pods, now!" Bardock ordered. Each of his squad members rose sluggishly, nursing their injuries. Bardock took off into the air, he used his scouter to track the location of Gine's pod. Blood was still leaking from her wound, staining the Captain's armour red. It was a race against time. If he didn't get Gine into her pod soon, she was going to bleed out.

Like hell he was going to let that happen to one of his squad mates!

He boosted his speed even further, going far past the sound barrier of the planet. He was hyper-alert as more adrenaline was pumped through his body.

'Damnit Gine, why'd ya' have to land so far away?' he thought.

At last, her pod came into view. He tried to decrease his speed but was unable to in time resulting in him crashing into the side of a cliff nearby, making sure he turned his body so he would take most of the impact. He raced to her pod and slammed a hand onto the top, opening the hatch of the small round ship. He placed Gine into her pod as he rummaged around the storage compartments for the emergency medical supplies.

"Why the hell does Gine keep all this junk in her storage unit?" he commented. Gine was a strange Saiyan. While all the other members of the warrior race were entirely focused on fighting, Gine had taken an interest in technology and gadgets. Often, after conquests, she would scavange for some 'cool tech', as she'd like to say, from the defeated races and stored them into her pod for later research. Although she often forgot about them, resulting in her personal pod being overly cluttered.

Bardock was growing frustrated as he searched for the med-kit, throwing many small gadgets onto the ground behind him. "Damn thing, WHERE IS IT!"

After seemingly endless digging he finally pulled out a small metal box. He opened the box and retrieved a tank of green-gel. He stuck the spout of the tank into her wound and released a lever, causing the gel to flood into the injury and quickly seal up the hole.

"Good thing for this bio-gel stuff." Bardock said with a sigh.

Leaning into Gine's pod, Bardock set the coordinates for Planet Vegeta and activated the emergency stasis. He watched the hatch close as the pod lifted into the air, then blasting off towards the intended destination.

He stayed there for a moment, staring off into space.

"Hey, Captain, you done? We're ready to leave," he heard Tora say from his scouter.

"Yeah, let's get outta here,"

* * *

**Two weeks later.**

**Planet Vegeta, Age 730**

Gine groaned, a splitting headache was pounding in her head. Her hearing felt strange, she tried opening her eyes but quickly shut them when she felt them sting. She wasn't lying down, she realized, but more in a crouching position, her body felt like it was suspended in some sort of thick liquid. She reached to her face and felt some sort of mask connected to a tube covering her mouth. ' _Oh! I'm in a healing tank!...Why?'_ She thought. There was a loud beeping noise, and the liquid surrounding her started to drain. The glass hatch lifted and she stepped out. She felt dizzy and almost fell over, but quickly caught herself. She was still wearing her armour. With a quick inspection she noticed a huge hole in the armour where her stomach was.

' _Oh yeah, that fish guy stabbed me'_ She remembered.

"You might have some trouble walking straight for a little while," Gine jumped at the sudden voice not realizing there was anyone else in the room. "You lost a lot of blood, it's a miracle we got you here in time," said a short green skinned, reptilian alien with an orange mohawk.

"Yeah, I guess I can thank you for that Malaka," She replied.

"Hmph, at least you appreciate my hard work, you brutes always go and destroy your bodies and little old Malaka is always here to put you guys back together, but do I get much thanks? Nooo, most I get is a grunt and a hand wave, a death threat some of the time," The short green alien paused his rant and looked toward the Gine, who looked at him with an awkward expression. He sighed.

"Alright listen, just take it easy for a little bit, maybe skip your next mission. I know you're not the most durable Saiyan around, I don't want to see you get any permanent damage okay?" he said.

"Will do, now I actually have a legitimate excuse to get out of a mission." She laughed.

"There's a fresh set of armour in the corner for you, I'll step out so you can get settled." Malaka said.

The small alien stepped out, leaving Gine alone in the room with her thoughts. As Gine dawned her frsh suit of armour, thoughts of the battle came flooding into her mind. Ever since she joined Bardock's squad, the amount of times her life had been at stake has gone up dramatically. When she was placed on other teams, the races she helped purged were weak and defensless, most of them had very low levels of technology as well. Even when her previous captains would abandon her on the battle field, she was at no real risk of death. But as part of Bardock's elite, every mission she would find herself in a great amount of trouble. There were countless amounts of times where she ahd been overwhelemed and was saved last second by Bardock. The most recent mission was the closest she had eevr come to actually dying.

Gine sighed as she remembered just how _useless_ she was on the battlefield. Everyone else was endlessly throwing themselves back into the battle trying to defeat the mysterious warrior, and she just sat on the sidelines, dojng nothing except stare in disbelief at the strength Trout showed. Sure, she was able to actually injure him, but that was a lucky shot, and it wasn't even using her own strength to do it, just some device. What happens when she faces off against a race whose _entire population_ is that strong? Not even Bardock will be able to save her then.

This battle also made her realise something else. The rest of her team was progressing except herself. She saw how strong everyone one had become in recent times, they were faster, more effective fighters, yet she was still…herself. When Gine first joined the team, Bardock had put her through a rigorous training regimen that did improve her fighting skills to some degree, but recently she'd been really slacking off, possibly only training occasionally. Though, It wasn't all her fault, she was always away on missions, there was no time to train. A true saiayn warrior is able to adapt and become stronger from battle alone. Yet, she wasn't.

_Maybe I'm not cut out for this, maybe I should just qui-_

Gine was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard the short doctor yelling at someone outside the door.

"Hey, you can't go in there yet!" Malaka excalimed

"Move out of my way!" She heard a rough voice say.

_It's Bardock!_

The door slid open, and Bardock stepped into the room, a disgruntled look on his face. Malaka followd in behind him.

"Ah Gine, I see you've finished changing, let me take those tattered clothes then,"

"Hey, lizard, beat it. I have to talk with her," Bardock stated sternly.

The reptilian doctor sighed, "Alright, alright, I'm going. You Saiyans and your attitudes," He said, mumbling the last part.

The green alien exited the room, leaving the two comrades alone. Bardock walked towards a wall and leaned against it, looking away from Gine.

"How ya' feeling?" He asked

A small blush appeared on Gine's face, "Aww, are you worried about me?"

"Not at all, we're leaving on our next mission soon and I want to know if you're ready."

Gine scoffed, her face becoming visibly irritated,

"Of-course that's the reason, you jerk!" she spat.

"Well? Are you ready or not?" Bardock asked impatiently.

She huffed and crossed her arms, "Well, the doctor said that since I lost a lot of blood I have to skip the next mission."

"No."

"Excuse me!?"

"I said no,"

"Well why not!? You want me to die?"

Now it was Bardock's turn to scoff, "Gine you're a Saiyan, stop being so soft, a little blood loss won't kill you." He looked her straight in the eye, "And you're part of my team, and since I'm the captain whatever I say goes, Understand?" He said harshly.

The two became quiet, both avoiding looking at each other. Then Gine broke the silence.

"What happened," She started softly, "After I blacked out?"

"I sent that bastard straight to hell, then I took you to your pod and sent you away, that's it really."

The blush returned to her face, "Aww, that was sweet of you."

Bardock scoffed and looked away.

"Thanks," she said softly.

"For what?"

"For saving me…..again."

"Y-yeah, whatever, if you weren't such a crap fighter I wouldn't have to waste my time looking after you anyway," Bardock said.

Gine giggled, "You know you enjoy it," she teased.

"Tch, whatever," He dismissed, his cheeks turning a small tinge of pink.

"Anyways, here," Bardock tossed Gine a new scouter.

"what's this for?" she asked

"I had everyone's scouter replaced, for some reason that guy's power level kept dropping and rising so I figured they were all busted. These are newer models. Make sure you calibrate it for our next mission."

"I'm not going on the next mission."

"Gine, stop with this," he growled.

"We are allowed breaks after traumatic injuries Bardock, I won't get in trouble, I don't know why you're so insistent on me going on every mission."

"Look Gine, I'm trying to get us to the Elites, all of us. How do you expect to get any stronger if you're just going to blow off important missions like this?"

"How do you know it's an important mission?" she retorted.

"Well, I-"

"Do you even know what the mission is?" Gine cut in.

"No, but-"

"So, then it's not important,"

"Every mission is important when someone is as worthless as you!" he blurted out, letting his irritation get the better of him. Bardock cringed when he saw Gine's bottom lip start to quiver, a hurt expression clear on her face. 'Damnit, here we go again!' he internally berated himself.

"Well, if I'm so worthless," she started, her voice cracking slightly, "Then maybe I shouldn't be a fighter at all." With that she stormed out of the room, shrugging off Bardock's attempt to halt her.

Bardock tried to follow her, but then stopped when he heard his scouter buzz, indicating someone was trying to contact him.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Squad leader Bardock," he tensed up when he heard the voice.

"You are to report to headquarters for debriefing on your latest assignment," said a commanding voice. One that he knew could only belong to his mission coordinator, Commander Dive, or as Bardock liked to call him, 'Asshole.' Bardock let out a long sigh, this was about to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A new life.

Bardock stomped into the Mission Headquarters, his face written with annoyance. He really, really did not want to be here. Commander Dive wasn't known to be the easiest man to talk to. He was probably one of the most hot-headed Saiyans around, making Bardock try his best to minimize any sort of contact between them. If he knew being team leader meant he had to talk to this guy after every mission, he would have gladly given up his chance for leadership.

Bardock hurried down the dull, stone-gray lobby, approaching a receptionist who was leaning back in his seat, with a smug look on his face. Behind the receptionist was the door to the Commander's office.

"Well well, if it ain't the super third class himself, better hurry Bardock, you don't want to keep the Commander waiting, especially after your guys last mission," taunted the receptionist.

"Stuff it Niono, I don't have time for your crap, tell the Commander I'm here to see him,"

"One question first, what's going on with you and Gine, you in some kind of relationship? Tough guys like you don't bother themselves with those things, you should leave her to me, I'll-."

Niono didn't get to finish his sentence as he was interrupted by Bardock's fist hitting his face.

Bardock walked past the crumpled form of Niono clutching his now broken nose and marched into the Commanders office.

Bardock placed his hand to his chest and bowed forward, "Commander Dive, sir."

"Ah, Bardock, you're here early," said the Commander

_No shit, if I was even a second late you'd rip you're desk in half._

The commander cleared his throat and leaned his elbows forward on his desk.

"About your most recent mission, the report says it took you and your team five days to clear planet Dirb,"

_Oh here we go_

"Post mission inspection showed there was a considerable amount of damage to the worlds surface, tell me Captain, was there a full moon while you were there?"

"Yes sir, it happened on our fifth night,"

The Commander let out a heavy sigh, "You do realize, Captain Bardock, that this planet was a very valuable one due to the natural beauty of the world's surface?" The Commander's voice was starting to raise.

"Yes sir, I had read that in the mission briefing,"

"So then why did you and your team of imbeciles rip the planet's surface to pieces!?" The Commander was yelling now, and he was up and out of his seat, his face red with anger.

"There are craters all over the place, the lush forests and green grasslands have been burned to a crisp, do you not Understand how much value we lost on this world!? This was going to be one of our most profitable planets to date and you ruffians absolutely destroyed it. Lord Frieza is not going to be happy about this, no, not at all!"

Bardock looked on ahead, honestly, he was expecting this. No matter how well Bardock and his team did on a mission, Commander Dive always had something to nitpick about. Bardock was surprised that he was even able to keep himself composed all this time. It took a considerable amount of willpower for Bardock not to just walk up to the commander and punch his damn face in! The palm haired warrior also realized doing just that would get him killed. Commander Dive wasn't a commander for no reason, he was part of the upper mid-class, which meant he was very powerful.

Dive sat back down into his chair and put a hand to his forehead and sighed.

"Damages aside, if you will, give me a quick rundown of what happened during the mission,"

"It was an easy one. Weak creatures, the strongest barely above one-hundred in battle power. They had decent technology that stung when we got hit, probably coulda' killed us too if we weren't careful. There was a lotta' those birds, that's why it took so long. We woulda' taken longer but I decided to take advantage of the full moon. After that we cleared them all, then this guy showed up, tough, but we got him, then I_"

"Stop," Dive interrupted, "This warrior, tell me more."

"He was strong, and incredibly fast, I don't know why but we couldn't get a proper read on his power level, it kept jumping all over the place. We all woulda' died if it weren't for one well-placed shot, but I-,"

"What did he look like?"

"Tall, blue scaled skin, looked like some kinda' fish. He wore a brown cloak, carried a black metal staff,"

The commander sighed, "So, it was true then."

"What was?"

"There was a rumor that the Planet Dirb was guarded by an intensely strong fighter that did not originate from that world, it was said it was responsible for the failed invasions."

This sparked some interest from Bardock, if command knew about him then why wasn't he informed? They all could have died during that mission, and one of them almost did. Bardock clenched his teeth, it was just like them to be hiding information from them. The higher levels didn't care about the wellbeing of the third-class, Bardock had always known this. Of course, they would try to sabotage a team that was finally starting to show their worth.

"In any case, I'd like to congratulate you on the success of this mission."

_Wait, what?_

Bardock was dumbfounded, was he receiving _praise_ from the commander?

"This mission was not supposed to be a successful one, in fact, you were sent in for more of an investigative role, the Frieza Force couldn't beat that mysterious warrior, so they shipped the job to us," he explained.

"This mission was apparently not a desirable, we tried to get a few elite teams to take this one, but they refused, saying it wasn't in their best interests. Since the elites refused the mission they passed it on to me to assign to a third-class team, and I knew that if there was any third-class team that would get the job done, it was yours. And I have to say, I am certainly impressed that you all came back in once piece, you surely put the rest of the elites to shame from your display, well done."

"Thank you, sir, I always make sure that my squad puts out the best performance on every mission,"

_Jackass._

"I hope so, I'll send you the debrief of your next assignment, you have ten hours for R&R, make sure your team is ready for this one, it's another mission the elites refused. I hope you're up for the challenge,"

"Always, Commander,"

"Good, you're dismissed."

Bardock saluted the commander then was about to leave before the Commander stopped him.

"Bardock, one more thing,"

"I am to understand that Gine was gravely injured on the battlefield, is that correct?"

"It was a surprise attack, I couldn't stop it,"

"No matter, ensure this does not happen again, or there _will_ be consequences," the commander said in a threatening tone.

Bardock nodded before turning around and marching out of the room, a sour look on his face. As he walked, he couldn't help but feel his mood elevating. Finally, they were being recognized for all the hard work they put in. If the commander recommended them for a mission that even the elites wouldn't take, then surely their goal of reaching that level was close to their grasps. The fact that they hid some valuable information from them though….

Bardock immediately dismissed the conspiracy theories, he can think about that later.

Bardock knew one thing for certain though, these missions were going to get a lot harder, which meant that his team and himself needed to be at their top performance at all times if the wanted to survive. There was another problem as well.

_Gine._

He didn't want to admit it, due to his growing affection for the timid Saiyan, but Gine was a liability to his team's success. He knew that she was awful at fighting, and she didn't have the drive that motivated a Saiyan for battle. He started to get a little worried about her. The missions are getting harder, and Gine just wasn't getting strong enough to continue.

Bardock quickly cleared his mind of these thoughts. Why did he even care? It's not his problem that Gine wasn't the warrior she is meant to be.

_Look what she's got me doing, worrying and stuff._

Bardock marched on, he had to inform his teammates of the news, he knew they would be happy to hear this.

* * *

Gine stared off at nothing in particular as she sat on a cliff overlooking the capital city. She didn't know how long she'd been there, probably a long time since she'd arrived when the planets suns were highest in the sky, and now the last of their light rays were peeking out from the horizon, painting the clouds a rich orange colour. A gentle breeze rolled through the tall vegetation around her, giving a nice cool feeling to contrast the heat of the two suns.

This was Gine's favourite place to relax and think, get away from all her troubles. She'd usually come here after every mission and stare off into the sky, or marvel at the majesty of the Royal palace.

It was peaceful, and quiet. And right now, she had a lot of thinking to do. In fact, that's all she had been doing this entire time. Thinking of her race, of her team, her relationship with Bardock. Right now, the main thing she thought about was what her team captain had said to her.

_Worthless._

He was right. That's all she was, worthless. She couldn't fight. Sure, she was good at other non-fighting things, but a Saiyan who can't fight is just,

_Worthless._

She can't continue like this, going from mission to mission until she gets killed in battle. Which, judging by the last mission, is an all too likely possibility that is bound to happen soon. She wished she didn't have to live life this way. She wished she could follow her true passions in life.

Gine was always interested in technology. How it worked, how it all fit together. It was all incredibly fascinating to her. Instead of training she would often spend her downtime between missions tinkering with gadgets she collected from other worlds, or read various books on scientific topics. But saiyans weren't supposed to care about that stuff. It was all battle and strength, nothing else. Gine hated this, she wanted nothing more than to escape the societal pressures that plagued her constantly. That was only a distant fantasy, just as likely as her becoming an elite-class warrior.

_Wait, yeah. That's it! I'll ask for early retirement!_

There was a system in place that allowed for saiyans who have been serving for a long time to request for retirement from the military. Which was heavily underused since a true Saiyan would never want to give up fighting. Usually it would be if they were getting too old, which was extremely rare as saiyans always died in battle, or if they suffered an injury that permanently disabled them. Which was also a rare occurrence due to the advanced medical technology of the Cold Empire that the saiyans had access to. But she knew she could at least try to suggest it, with her record, she knew that she would be allowed to retire, and start the life she'd always wanted, away from battle.

The only problem was convincing her mission coordinator, Commander Dive, to let her leave. Which was pretty much impossible. But she had to at least try. Gine rose to her feet and took off into the air towards the mission headquarters.

* * *

"Hey Gine, looking good today, why don't you come out for drinks with me tonight, huh? Maybe I'll take ya back to my place and we can see what happens," Niono said suggestively

"Stuff it Niono, and what happened to your face? Fall down the stairs again?" She said, pointing at his bandaged nose.

"Your stupid brute did this to me when I asked about you! He put me through a lot of pain, in fact, you should really be tending to my injury since you're partly responsible, come by my apartment after my shift whaddya say?"

Gine laughed, "Well maybe I should just bring Bardock along with me since you clearly didn't get his message the first time,"

Niono tensed,

"W-whatever then! Just go see the commander already,"

Gine shot him a smug look before walking into Commander Dive's office,

She placed a hand to her chest and bowed forward.

"Commander Dive, thank you for meeting with me today," she stated respectfully.

The Commander sighed, "You better not be wasting my time, Gine."

"Sir, I'd like to request an early retirement from-"

SLAM!

Gine flinched at the sound of the Commander smacking his hand on the metal desk.

"You're. Not. Quitting!" he seethed.

"But sir I-"

SLAM!

The commander struck his metal desk again with his fist, visibly denting the hard metal surface.

Gine's eyes were glued to the floor and she was trying her very hardest not to cry. Gine always had this problem, she could yell and scream at anyone but as soon as anyone did the same to her, she would break down. And she hated that about herself. She wished she could be strong, had the resolve like everyone else, like a normal Saiyan.

But she wasn't a normal Saiyan, she was a failure, a liability, _worthless._

Crying in front of the Commander would only make her situation far worse.

"My brother trusted me to make you into a suitable warrior and I will honour his dying wish!"

"But sir, you don't understand, I'm not a capable warrior, I'm only a hazard to my team!" Gine countered.

"Who's telling you this? Is it that Bardock? I swear I'll rip out his lungs if that's the case!"

"N-no no, he didn't tell me anything, in fact he wants me to stay. I'm making this decision on my own."

"And what will you do, hm? Work in a factory, or be a palace servant? Clean Garbage off the street!? I will not have my own blood lower themselves to such filth!"

"Well I mean, palace servants get paid quite a lot so.." she said in a small voice, avoiding eye contact with the hot headed Commander.

Dive was now up and out of his seat; his face was red with anger.

"What kind of Saiyan are you? You don't want to fight? You only like reading those stupid textbooks, and wasting away your time tinkering with gadgets. If I was your father I would have abandoned you on the streets when you were first born! To hell with his stupid sentimental tendencies! "

The Commander sat back down in his chair, slouching forward with one hand placed to his fore head.

He sighed, "Gine, Listen," he started in a softer tone,

"You're my only niece, and I've sacrificed so much for you, I'm the reason you weren't sent off as an infiltrator baby when you were young, I'm the reason you got to live in that large apartment of yours and not on the streets after your father died. Stay in the military, if not for me, then do it for your father. That's all I ask,"

"Alright, I'll stay,"

"Good. We won't have this conversation again, am I clear?" He stated sternly.

"Yes sir," she replied.

Gine placed a closed fist to her chest and bowed forward before exiting.

She rushed out of the building. Tears were streaming down her face. She was extremely frustrated. That was her only chance at starting a new life, now it was all ruined. She could never escape battle. It was a Saiyan's life. Her uncle was a jerk. And bringing up the memory of her late father hurt, the way he spoke about him showed just how little he knew about his brother. Memories of her father came flooding back into her mind, it made her heart ache. He was the best person she'd ever known. He was gentle, compassionate, most of all a proud Saiyan warrior. Like herself, Gine's father was different from the rest. He cared about her a great deal.

She remembered how he'd come home from each mission and they would stay up late together while he told her stories of his experiences in space. He'd then present her with various gifts he'd gotten from his travels. She remembered how he used to tuck her into bed every night and he wouldn't leave until she had fallen asleep. She remembered how understanding he was when she told him that she didn't want to be a warrior, he never got mad, he wasn't disappointed, he respected her decision, even though she was just a small girl who didn't know what affect her decisions had on her life.

She remembered when he left one day and never came back.

It was a failed mission; her uncle was the only one that survived it and made it back to planet Vegeta. She'd cry every night and look outside her front window waiting, hoping that it wasn't true and that any day her father would touch down in front of her house and call out her name like he'd done for seven years of her life. But he never did.

She didn't know her mother, her uncle was completely unsympathetic, and as far as she knew she didn't have any siblings or cousins. So, she was left alone in her grief.

Her uncle was kind enough to take responsibility for her instead of being placed in an orphanage. He'd always been mean. Dive would yell at her to stop crying about her dead father, telling her that he was too weak and that's why he died. As soon as he'd taken over caring for her he immediately placed her with a random team, and whenever they'd reject her, which was only after a mission or two, her uncle would get mad at her, blaming it on her being weak, and stating that if she'd continue to be the way she was she'd end up dead on some backwater world like her father.

She hated the way he treated her, but he was the only family she had left.

Gine stopped to wipe the tears away from her face and let out a heavy sigh. Deciding on preparing for her next mission since she knew she wasn't getting out of it this time.

It was time to stop making excuses, she'd decided. This was the life she was going to live. One day she was going to die on some backwater world, she'd accepted her fate already. It was the life she was doomed to lead.

* * *

"So, the Commander actually praised us for once?" Tora said, surprised about the recent revelation.

"I was just as surprised as you are," Bardock said before downing the drink in his hands. Him and his team were relaxing in one of the many pubs located in the capital city in Vegeta. They'd go to one before every mission to de-stress.

"Well, it's about damn time we are getting recognized for our hard work," said Shugesh, "and to think, those stuck up elites wouldn't even take this one,"

"I'd say we are right on track to becoming elites," Tora spoke.

"Kinda strange they decided to keep the info on that Trout guy a secret though," said Selipa.

"Yeah, that's what bugs me," Bardock agreed.

"Isn't it obvious?" each of the team members turned towards the usually quiet Borgos.

"We are a third-class team that is clearing worlds at a faster rate than anybody else, we are a threat to their status. If some group of low levels can outperform the elites of our race, then they shouldn't be considered elites at all. The higher levels want to make sure that the third class stay the third class."

Shugesh slammed his mug on the table, "Of course that's it! These damn elites, always tryna keep us down,"

"You know you've been really insightful lately big guy. Kinda scaring me," Selipa said towards Borgos, who only grunted in response.

The group of low-class warriors started to talk amongst themselves, swapping theories and expressing their general displeasure with the saiyan societal hierarchy and discontent with the Frieza empire. Bardock stayed on the outside of the conversation, not wanting to participate. A certain absent group member was currently on his mind. He tried contacting her, but she wouldn't respond. Bardock wondered if she was even going to show up to the docking station. He didn't really think she would.

Bardock's eyes drifted away from his squad, he could see others in the bar were looking their way, clearly taking some interest in their conversation. Bardock instantly realized this could mean trouble, if the wrong person heard what they were saying…

He slammed his hand on the table to alert his team.

"Listen, no matter what the case is it doesn't matter to us. The only thing we need to worry about is our assignments. Speaking of which, it's about time we get going, it's a long trip to this next world, and I want to get there as soon as possible."

They all agreed and immediately rose from their seats and left the entablement.

They walked to the docking station with little urgency. The members of Bardock's elite, save the Captain and Borgos, chatted away with each other on random topics, sill clearly in their relaxation mode. As they walked though, they started to take notice on their absent member as well.

"Hey, Captain. What happened with you and Gine?" Selipa asked.

"None of your business,"

"Oh c'mon Doc, let me guess, you and her got in a huge fight again? And that's why she told us she was quitting the team?" Tora teased.

"What, she said that? Never mind, just drop it, okay? She's coming with us,"

"I'm not so sure about that Captain. Face it, she's not able to keep up with us, you should just kick her off, it's better for all of us," Selipa added.

"She's part of this team and if I say she's staying then she's staying!" Bardock roared. He was fed up with his squad's useless banter.

The team continued towards their pods. As they approached they all became increasingly stern as they all focused on the battle to come. When they got to where their pods were docked they were all surprised to see Gine waiting there for them.

"Gine? You're here?" Bardock said

"Yeah, we have to leave for an assignment, don't we? And I know you like to leave early so I made sure to be ready as soon as possible," she replied.

"Well, look who it is! Changed your mind about quitting I see" Stated Tora.

"Yes. I am a proud Saiyan warrior, qutting is not in my nature, I will fight until my bitter end, and I will rise to the elites with you, or die trying." Her speech was very monotone, Bardock noticed, almost as if she was just repeating words she was told, like a robot. He could clearly tell that there wasn't much conviction in what she was saying. That's something he'd have to ask her later.

"Alright then," The palm haired warrior said, "Everyone to your pods!"


End file.
